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Mother and baby fell to deaths 'before hospital reported them missing' Mother and baby fell to deaths 'before hospital reported them missing'
(35 minutes later)
A hospital raised the alarm that a mother and baby were missing 10 minutes after they had reached the spot where they fell to their deaths, an inquest has heard. Medical staff did not alert police that a vulnerable new mother with a history of mental health problems had vanished until almost 40 minutes after she walked out of a hospital in her slippers, carrying her child in a blanket, an inquest has heard.
Charlotte Bevan, 30, disappeared from St Michael’s hospital in Bristol with her four-day-old daughter, Zaani Tiana Bevan Malbrouck, on 2 December. Charlotte Bevan, 30, and her four-day-old daughter Zaani Tiana Bevan Malbrouck had reached the gorge where they fell to their deaths about 10 minutes before the hospital called the police.
Bevan, wearing hospital slippers, was seen carrying her child out of the hospital in a blanket at 8.36pm, when temperatures were 3C (37.4F). Bevan, who had schizophrenia and depression, vanished from St Michael’s hospital in Bristol with her baby shortly before Christmas last year when the temperature was 3C (37.4F). The bodies of mother and child were subsequently found in the Avon Gorge.
Avon coroner’s court heard that her partner Pascal Malbrouck asked nurses to “keep an eye” on the pair as he left them at 8.25pm. Avon coroner’s court heard her partner, Pascal Malbrouck, Zaani’s father, asked nurses to keep an eye on the pair as he left them at 8.25pm on 2 December. At 8.36pm, she was seen leaving the hospital and half an hour later, CCTV footage caught her walking up to the Clifton Observatory near the gorge.
CCTV footage showed Bevan, who suffered from schizophrenia and depression, walking up to the Clifton Observatory at 9.06pm. The inquest heard staff at St Michael’s contacted police to say Bevan, classed as high risk, and her baby were missing at 9.14pm. DC Russ Jones of Avon and Somerset police said: “Of relevance to this inquest is that police received the call from the hospital at 21.14 hours.
Search teams located her and her baby’s bodies in Avon Gorge below on 3 and 4 December 3 respectively. “That was probably too late to find Charlotte and Zaani before they had fallen to their deaths.” Jones said Charlotte was classed as “high risk due to her current mental health issues”, information that was provided by the hospital.
A postmortem concluded that Bevan died from multiple injuries, while Zaani’s death was caused by head injuries consistent with the fall. Officers looking for the missing mother and child searched at the Clifton Suspension bridge, as well as places relevant to Bevan. A walker noticed a pair of slippers and a blanket by the Clifton Observatory but did not realise the significance until he heard of their disappearance.
The inquest heard staff at St Michael’s hospital contacted police to say Bevan, who was classed as high risk owing to her mental state, and her baby were missing at 9.14pm on 2 December. Search teams located the bodies of Bevan and Zaani on the Avon Gorge below on 3 and 4 December respectively. A postmortem examination concluded Bevan died from multiple injuries, while Zaani’s death was caused by head injuries consistent with a fall.
DC Russ Jones, of the Avon and Somerset force, said police retraced Bevan’s steps and that “it took an officer in good health … 27 minutes to walk, compared with the 30 minutes it took Charlotte. It was strongly believed that Charlotte went straight to there from the hospital. Bevan’s mother, Rachael Fortune, said her daughter disclosed to her that she had stopped taking her medication. She said: “She was breastfeeding constantly.
“Of relevance to this inquest is that police received the call from the hospital at 21.14 hours. That was probably too late to find Charlotte and Zaani before they had fallen to their deaths.” “She was very quiet. I told her it was very brave but it was difficult because anything I said, she would have done the opposite. I suggested that she spoke to the nurses as they could give her advice. I told her I thought Zaani was beautiful.”
Officers searching for the missing pair searched at the Clifton Suspension Bridge, as well as places relevant to Bevan. Dr Farida Ahmad, of Bevan’s GP surgery in Cotham, Bristol, said her father died from a brain tumour in 2000, when she was 15, leaving her traumatised. Bevan suffered from depression and paranoid psychotic episodes and was prescribed the antipsychotic medication risperidone in December 2010.
A walker noticed a pair of slippers and a blanket by the Clifton Observatory but did not realise the significance until he heard of the disappearance. He alerted police on 3 December 3 and Bevan’s body was discovered on the Avon Gorge below at 9.10pm that evening. In April 2014, Bevan visited the surgery with Malbrouck announcing she was pregnant and was advised not to stop the medication. A pregnancy care plan was drawn up with mental health services in July. Bevan received a two-month supply of risperidone in August, but she later told a midwife she had stopped taking the medication.
“The search of the cliff face continued into the early hours in the hope that Zaani might be found alive,” Jones said. “She was not found.” Her sister, Janet Tibbs, said Bevan began experimenting with drugs and missing school after her father’s death. She was sectioned in 2008 after her mother called police when she began hallucinating and was sectioned again in 2010.
The search continued on 4 December aani’s body was found in shrubbery in the Avon Gorge at 3pm. In Christmas 2013, Bevan’s behaviour was “unusual” towards her family and she became “reclusive”, Tibbs said in a statement. “She said ‘I won’t be here with you next Christmas’,” Tibbs added. She continued: “In May 2014, she [Bevan] announced she was pregnant, I don’t known why they were trying for a baby as Charlotte was really unstable. She was displaying strange behaviour.”
The inquest continues. She visited her sister in hospital after she had given birth to Zaani and was concerned at her mental and physical state. Tibbs said: “She looked sketchy and on edge. Her eyes were bulging and she was unwilling to hold Zaani. I was worried for Zaani, but never thought Charlotte would harm her.” The inquest continues.